For a team that just watched a franchise-record 10 threes in the first quarter turn into a loss against the Boston Celtics, you’d think the Toronto Raptors would know better than to get comfortable with an early lead. Well… apparently not.
Toronto came out firing against the Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday, building a 17-point lead in the first quarter before watching it disappear in a hurry. The Raptors couldn’t sustain their hot start, and Philadelphia took advantage, handing Toronto a 112-123 loss and its third straight defeat.
After a terrible game from the Raps backcourt against the Celtics, it was Barrett and Quickley who got the Raptors going early, combining for 17 points in the opening quarter without missing a shot. Barrett had eight points, two rebounds and three assists, including two threes, while Quickley chipped in nine points and four rebounds on 3-for-3 shooting.
Toronto was also doing a solid job defending Philadelphia’s star power. With LeBron James not in the lineup, the Raptors had one less star to worry about, and they made life difficult for Jaylen Brown and Joel Embiid early. Brown went 0-for-2 from the field and committed three turnovers, while Embiid managed just one make on four attempts in nine minutes.
The problem was Tyrese Maxey, who’s become a familiar headache for Toronto. He scored 10 points on 4-for-5 shooting in the opening quarter, keeping Philadelphia within reach even as the Raptors built their lead. Toronto was up 33-16 at one point, but the Sixers closed the quarter on an eight-point run to cut the deficit to nine.
That late run proved to be a preview of what was coming. Philadelphia opened the second quarter with some more hot shooting, completely flipping the game and wiping out Toronto’s lead. The Raptors went from shooting 50 percent and scoring 33 points in the first quarter to putting up 27 points on 40 percent shooting in the second.
Barrett cooled off, scoring five points on 2-for-5 shooting, while Quickley went 2-for-6 after his perfect start and missed all three of his attempts from deep. Barrett started settling for shots from the perimeter instead of attacking the paint, where he’s at his best. Toronto needed someone to get downhill and put an end to Philadelphia’s run, but the offence couldn’t find an answer.
On the other end, Brown finally got going, scoring 10 points on 5-for-7 shooting in the second quarter. Just like that, Toronto had turned a 17-point advantage into a game that was suddenly up for grabs.
Barrett wakes back up
If there was one Raptor who refused to let the game immediately get away in the second-half, it was Barrett. After his quieter second quarter, he bounced back with 11 points and five rebounds on 5-for-7 shooting in the third. He stopped settling and started attacking the basket, but he wasn’t getting enough help.
Mad Maxey added another nine points in the quarter, and Philadelphia went from trailing by nine after the first to leading by nine heading into the fourth. Toronto also coughed up the ball seven times in the third.
The Raptors needed a big fourth quarter, and Barrett and Quickley did what they could to keep them in it. Barrett finished with a season-high 31 points, 14 rebounds and five assists on 13-for-20 shooting. He also knocked down a season-high four threes on seven attempts, while his 13 made field goals were another season high. His 14 rebounds left him just one shy of his career best.
Quickley wasn’t far behind, finishing with 26 points, six assists, four rebounds, one steal and one block on 8-for-16 shooting. He finished just one point shy of his season high. Those two combined for 57 points, but Toronto needed more production elsewhere to make up for its disappearing offence.
If there was a bright spot outside those two then credit needed to go to Collin Murray-Boyles. CMB was a defensive menace in the fourth quarter, recording five blocks in the final frame alone. He also tallied 14 points and 4 assists. Still, his night wasn’t close to perfect. He failed to record a single rebound in 32 minutes of action.
Overall, Philly’s firepower was too much to contain. Maxey finished with a game-high 27 points and eight assists on 8-for-13 shooting. Embiid added 20 points, four rebounds and three assists, while Brown finished with 18 points, six rebounds and two steals.
Poor outing outside of RJ & IQ
Outside of Barrett and Quickley, Toronto didn’t get nearly enough from its supporting cast. Allen Graves had a quiet night after showing plenty of confidence against Boston. He took eight shots and scored a career-high 13 points against the Celtics, but managed just two field-goal attempts in 13 minutes against Philadelphia, finishing with zero points and zero assists. The aggression he showed in the previous game simply wasn’t there this time around.
Ja’Kobe Walter also couldn’t carry over his hot shooting from Wednesday. After knocking down five threes against Boston, he went just 1-for-6 from deep against the Sixers. He’s now shooting 28.6 percent from three across seven games in November.
Jakob Poeltl’s recent improvement on the glass didn’t carry over, either. After a solid three-game stretch rebounding the ball, he finished with just five boards in 25 minutes and picked up four personal fouls. Jamal Shead also had a rough night, scoring just five points on 1-for-6 shooting after putting together back-to-back strong performances.
The bench was outscored 37-26, with Philadelphia getting a major boost from Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Anfernee Simons, who combined to shoot 8-for-11 from three. Toronto’s reserves made just five threes, and three of those came from Jamison Battle, who finished with 13 points as the only Raptors bench player to reach double figures.
The turnover numbers make the loss even more frustrating. Toronto forced 12 turnovers compared to Philadelphia’s 10, but the Sixers scored 24 points off turnovers while the Raptors managed just 14. Despite forcing more mistakes, Toronto came away with 10 fewer points in those situations.
The Raptors are now 5-7 and have dropped three straight, with the defending champion New York Knicks up next. A team the Raptors haven’t beaten in 13 consecutive meetings, dating back to its last win on Jan. 22, 2023.
After another game in which the Raptors built a big lead and couldn’t hold it, they’ll need to put together a much more complete performance if they want to avoid extending that streak.
